Japan Withdraws From International Whaling Commission—Restart Whaling in July

In this September 2017, photo, a minke whale is unloaded at a port after whaling for scientific purposes in Kushiro, in the northernmost main island of Hokkaido. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japan is abandoning the pretense of “scientific research” and will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission, freeing it up to resume commercial whaling beginning in July, reports the BBC.

There’s one silver lining for whales in that Japan will give up hunting in the Antarctic and restrict whaling to its own territorial waters. But the move also means that Japan can now freely hunt whales considered endangered by the IWC, such as minke whales. Australia, which has often sparred with Japan over the practice, wasted little time in denouncing the move, saying in a statement that it

“remains resolutely opposed to all forms of commercial and so-called ‘scientific’ whaling.”

A rep for the country’s Humane Society International took it further: “This is the path of a pirate whaling nation, with a troubling disregard for international rule.” (Read more whaling stories.)

4 Responses to Japan Withdraws From International Whaling Commission—Restart Whaling in July

I’ll undoubtedly be called a racist for mentioning the long history of Japan as a despoiler of nature and natural resources, but really, scraping the sea floor, clearcutting forests and exterminating rare species without one noticeable moral scruple cannot be defended. We don’t need to go back to the massive genocides of the 1930s and 40s. This is now and this is not going to be helped by Trump’s “America First” abandonment of leadership or responsibility.

I’m not talking about a race, but a government and a culture that’s able to rationalize all sorts of things from genocide to the wanton destruction of nature with a lovely wrapping paper. Kill every living thing in the oceans and you write a haiku about how lovely the waves are.